


Living a Fantasy

by BeneaththeHalo



Series: Courage Magic Strength [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Episode: s03e12-13 The Coming of Arthur, Multi, Undressing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2014-08-02
Packaged: 2018-02-11 10:15:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2064225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeneaththeHalo/pseuds/BeneaththeHalo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But it wasn't only Merlin Arthur had these thoughts about. Not anymore. Arthur hated to admit it, but he'd wanted to kiss Gwaine from the moment he laid eyes on him. Even more so when he'd seen Gwaine lying unconscious in that bed, his lips slightly parted and oh so inviting. And judging by the way Merlin was unashamedly staring at Gwaine, he wanted the exact same thing.</p><p>Which was why Arthur's next move, instead of telling Gwaine to leave, was to growl, "Take off your clothes."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Living a Fantasy

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... I don't even know what this is, because it turned out absolutely NOTHING like I intended it to. Oh well. Hope you enjoy anyway!
> 
> Day #2: Kiss (naked)

Gwaine had spent a lot of time, rather more than he'd care to admit, missing both Merlin _and_ Arthur during his time travelling alone. He'd always known he'd miss Merlin, but _Arthur_? That pompous, arrogant prince? Merlin was definitely right when he said that some nobles were different than others. He remembered back to the melee, watching Arthur fight, the impeccable skill and the beautiful form the man had. And then there was that journey to help Arthur obtain the Fisher King's trident, the longest amount of time he'd ever spent alone with Merlin. The servant looked almost sprite-like, and was the one and only man Gwaine would ever called _pretty_. Because that's exactly what he was, with his well-defined cheekbones and pink lips. God, Gwaine had missed those lips. Whenever he'd seen Merlin talk, Gwaine had wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips. He bet it would be glorious.

Little did Gwaine know, Arthur had often wondered the same thing. Not that he- god forbid- _liked_ Merlin. That was so far from the truth it was near laughable. But sometimes, when he watched Merlin ramble, Arthur imagined shutting Merlin up with a kiss. He'd imagined Merlin falling silent in response to Arthur's touch, before kissing him back, moaning as Arthur moved.

"Arthur? Are you okay?" Merlin asked, jolting Arthur from his thoughts. "You're staring."

"I'm not staring, _Mer_ lin," Arthur protested, even though he knew that was a lie. He had been staring. He was _always_ staring, although most of the time he got away without Merlin noticing him. Since the day he'd first met Merlin, when the boy had been completely _disrespectful_ to his crown prince, Arthur had imagined using a very different kind of force to shut him up. And every day that Merlin spent by Arthur's side, every day he talked back and did a shoddy job at his chores and just _wouldn't_ abandon Arthur, no matter what, Arthur's fantasies and desires had grown stronger and stronger until he damn near couldn't take it anymore.

And then Gwaine had come along. Gwaine, with his terrible jokes and his love of mead and his grudge against nobles. A grudge that, for some reason, he didn't apply to Arthur. Of course, Merlin had told Arthur that he did at first, much to Merlin's own satisfaction. Arthur often wondered what had changed Gwaine's mind. Was it Arthur's own actions? Or was it something Merlin had said to Gwaine?

When Arthur saw the way that Gwaine looked at Merlin, from the day they'd met him and even now, he couldn't help the jealousy that flared up in his chest. No one, _no one_ , was allowed to look at Merlin that way. No one but Arthur. Arthur had turned away from Merlin, so his servant couldn't see him staring, but then his eyes had fallen on Gwaine, who was watching Merlin out of the corner of his eye. Arthur wondered whether Gwaine thought the same things Arthur himself did- whether he wondered what it would be like to kiss Merlin's lips, whether he thought about how beautiful Merlin was, whether he wondered what it would be like to see Merlin _without his clothes on_.

But it wasn't only Merlin Arthur had these thoughts about. Not anymore. Arthur hated to admit it, but he'd wanted to kiss Gwaine from the moment he laid eyes on him. Even more so when he'd seen Gwaine lying unconscious in that bed, his lips slightly parted and oh so inviting. And judging by the way Merlin was unashamedly staring at Gwaine, he wanted the exact same thing.

Which was why Arthur's next move, instead of telling Gwaine to leave, was to growl, "Take off your clothes."

"Wh-what?" Merlin stammered, looking from Arthur, to a very confused Gwaine, and back again. "Arthur? What are you talking about?"

"You heard me," said Arthur, looking at both Merlin and Gwaine. "Both of you."

"I'm not your plaything, princess," Gwaine said, taking a step closer to Arthur. "You can't just order me around, and I'm pretty sure you don't normally just order Merlin to take his clothes of in front of you, either." Taking a better look at Arthur, and the way he was struggling to control his breathing, Gwaine raised an eyebrow. "Unless there's _another_ reason you're asking this of us."

"Arthur?" said Merlin, still confused.

"Forget it," said Arthur, looking away from the other two. "Forget I said anything. We still have to get the Cup of Life, and we can't be certain that we aren't being watched or followed."

"No, Arthur," said Gwaine, gripping the prince's wrist. Arthur tried to pull away, but Gwaine held on tight. Merlin just continued to watch the two, unsure what else to do. "You can't just say what you said and expect us to forget about it."

"It- it was a moment of weakness," Arthur protested, albeit half-heartedly. "I shouldn't have said it. I'm the crown prince, for god's sake! I shouldn't have fantasies about kissing my manservant or an outlaw!" Too late, Arthur realised what he'd said.

Gwaine did nothing but smirk. "Well, why didn't you say that in the first place, princess? You might find that your fantasies are shared, you know?"

"I- what?" said Arthur, clearly not expecting what Gwaine had said. Merlin remained silent, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. If Gwaine and Arthur were paying any attention to him, they would realise that he may just share their fantasies as well.

"Are you deaf, Arthur?" said Gwaine. "I've never seen you speechless like this before. Have you, Merlin?" Gwaine turned to look at Merlin, drinking in the sight of him shifting from foot to foot as if struggling to hold still, his gaze flitting from Arthur to Gwaine as if he didn't know who he wanted to look at most, and he _knew_.

He said nothing, however, instead waiting for Merlin to answer. The warlock was hesitating, uneasy, unsure which way he wanted this to go. Gwaine was right- he _did_ want to kiss both men, so much so he felt his body may ache with it. "Once," said Merlin finally. "I've seen him like this once. It was ridiculously hot, and Arthur _insisted_ we go on this hunt anyway, so when we reached a river..." Merlin trailed off, staring at Arthur, finally getting it. "We took our clothes off and went swimming." Merlin continued to stare at Arthur, who tried his hardest to stare Merlin down but was failing miserably. "Is _that_ why you suggested that? So you could look at me naked?"

"Of course not," said Arthur, entirely unconvincing. "Alright, yes. But I was never going to _make_ you do anything, Merlin. We both needed to cool down that day. And I'm not going to make you do anything now."

"That's right, you're not," said Merlin. Surprising both Arthur and Gwaine, he reached up, deftly untying his neckerchief and letting it fall to the ground.

"Merlin, what are you-?" Arthur began, but was cut off when Merlin removed his own jacket, slung it to the ground, and stepped closer to Arthur.

"I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do this," Merlin admitted. "I don't know if it's just the adrenalin from our escape, or the fact that Gwaine looks like this is the best day of his life, but I’m going to do this now. And if I’m gonna take _my_ clothes off, then so are you, _my lord_.”

“I’m your Crown Prince, _Mer_ lin,” said Arthur, more from habit than anything else. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“When has that ever stopped me before?” Merlin pointed out. With the effortlessness of someone who had been dressing Arthur for years now, he reached out and slipped off the prince’s jacket before Arthur could stop him. "Please, Arthur." Arthur was silent, but Merlin and Gwaine both knew he meant _yes_. Just so Merlin was sure, though, Arthur took his hands and guided them to the edge of his own tunic.

"Take it off," he whispered. "Do it, Merlin."

"Yes, please do it Merlin," Gwaine agreed. "I want to see this."

A genuinely happy smile spreading across his face for perhaps the first time that day, Merlin did exactly what Arthur asked for once. He lifted Arthur’s tunic over his head in one fluid motion, tossing it away. He heard Gwaine’s breath hitch as he took in the sight of Arthur, a sight that Merlin had seen nearly every day since he arrived in Camelot but still wasn’t used to. He didn’t think he would _ever_ be used to it.

“ _Damn_ , princess,” said Gwaine, wearing that grin of his that was part joking, part lust and desire. “If I’d known you looked like _this_ under those tunics of yours, I would’ve ripped it off in the arena.”

“You would never have gotten close enough to try,” Arthur said, talking to Gwaine but with his eyes on Merlin. “Just like I’m not letting you close enough to even _try_ doing this.” Before Merlin or Gwaine could stop him, Arthur pulled Merlin’s tunic over his head, rather more roughly than Merlin had done. Clearly, he hadn’t had practice dressing people like Merlin had. It was his next move that was the most surprising, though. Taking Merlin’s face in both hands, and after turning to wink at Gwaine, Arthur did the one thing he’d always fantasised about doing.

He kissed Merlin.

Arthur knew this was an incredibly corny thing to think, but actually _kissing Merlin_ was nothing like he’d ever imagined it would be. It was so, _so_ much better. Merlin was… _god_ , Merlin was so many things that Arthur would never actually say to him, because he knew that Merlin would never let him hear the end of it. His lips were rough, cracked from spending so much time outdoors in the wind and the sun traipsing after Arthur, but Arthur continued to kiss him with a hunger that he’d never felt before. Kissing Merlin was _damn good_ , Arthur decided, and it was made even better by the fact that that Merlin was kissing Arthur back with a desperation that served to drive the prince to kiss him even _harder_. Arthur had his hands braced on Merlin’s bare chest, and part of him was roaring in triumph that he’d been able to kiss Merlin before _Gwaine_.

Speaking of Gwaine… the man had snuck up behind Arthur while he was otherwise occupied, and had looped his fingers around the waistline of Arthur’s trousers. Their tips were grazing Arthur’s bare skin, and he couldn’t help but shiver.

“What are… what are you doing?” Arthur managed to whisper, reluctantly pulling away from Merlin’s mouth.

“I want to see _all_ of you,” said Gwaine. “I mean, I _am_ rather enjoying this spectacle, but it’s not _enough_. I need _more_. Unless you don’t want me to…?” As if in reply, Arthur bucked up into Gwaine’s hands. “That’s what I thought.” Arthur went back to kissing Merlin, and soon enough he was fully naked, Gwaine pressing kisses up his side until he reached Arthur’s neck. “I never thought I’d say this, princess, but you are fucking _gorgeous_.”

“Don’t call- me- _princess_ ,” Arthur growled in between kisses.

“No, a princess you are not,” Gwaine agreed, sucking on Arthur’s neck so the prince arched back, pulling away from Merlin. Merlin whined at the loss of contact.

“Not fair,” he muttered.

“What? You got to kiss him,” Gwaine grinned. “Maybe I should even that up.” Without taking his eyes off of Merlin, Gwaine turned Arthur’s head around and kissed him full on the mouth. Arthur froze in place, stiffened, but as Gwaine moved his lips Arthur began to kiss him back, clumsily fumbling with the edge of Gwaine’s shirt as he did so. “Not. Fair,” he muttered. “Wanna see you too.”

“Your wish is my command, my lord,” said Gwaine almost mockingly, breaking away from Arthur just long enough to take off his jacket and his vest and tossing them to the floor, before returning to kissing Arthur. “You know, Merlin, you could make yourself useful and get these trousers off for me…”

“You are completely insane,” said Merlin. Hell, they all were. They’d just escaped from a slave trader and were meant to be looking for the Cup of Life, yet here they were, making out in the forest and all in varying states of undress. It was probably both the stupidest and greatest thing all three of them had ever done, and while they would possibly regret it later, Merlin definitely didn’t want it to end. So he moved towards Gwaine, his hand caressing Arthur’s finely sculpted shoulder and arm as he went past him.

“God, _Merlin_ …” Arthur muttered. Merlin’s touch was glorious, like fire was dancing right beneath his skin, yearning to break free. All too soon, though, those fingers had left Arthur and had moved on to Gwaine, tracing the outline of Gwaine’s hips before stripping him of his trousers. Gwaine had his back to Merlin, but he pushed back into him in response, causing him to gasp in shock.

Arthur, however, was facing Merlin, and hadn’t failed to notice the fact that Merlin was still wearing his trousers. Almost as if he’d read Arthur’s mind, the manservant immediately shed his trousers so that all three men were finally fully naked. “It’s only fair,” said Merlin.

“No, what’s only fair is that I _finally_ get a taste of those lips,” said Gwaine, turning away from Arthur and latching onto Merlin before either man could stop him. And _oh_ , wasn’t kissing Merlin just as _god damn good_ as Gwaine thought it would be. It must’ve looked good too, judging by the way Arthur had pressed himself against Merlin, kissing every inch of him he could reach.

“Someone could find us at any moment,” Merlin pointed out in between kisses, clearly not actually caring at all.

“They could,” Arthur agreed, before sucking on a particularly delectable point on Merlin’s neck.

“You know what? I don’t give a damn,” Gwaine decided. “We can afford a few more minutes of this, can’t we boys?”

Both Merlin and Arthur murmured their assent. But a few more minutes be damned. All of them knew, that if they could somehow get Gwaine back into Camelot without Uther wanting to kill him, this would happen many times in the future. And they were glad of it.

 

 


End file.
